"There's some people thinking it might be accelerated ahead of that. We'll see on Friday how he comes out of that game," Johnson added.

After his three extended spring training games, Morse is slated to play in a few rehab games in the minors.

Morse, 30, was shut down on April 11 after re-aggravating an abdominal strain during a minor league rehab assignment.

Most of his trouble came when he tried to throw from the outfield. As such, the plan is to have him start at DH in Boston during interleague play. If he were to return sooner, it would prematurely force him back in the outfield.

As great as it would be to have him back as soon as possible, it might be wiser to wait until the Nats arrive in Boston to avoid any further setbacks.

Morse broke out in 2011 when he hit 31 home runs, 36 doubles and drove in 95 runs while hitting .303 in 146 games.

Either way, the Nationals' struggling offense will be greatly helped when Morse returns to the lineup.